A social media campaign urging players to turn off their PlayStation 5 consoles in protest of Sony’s decision to end production of physical PlayStation discs did not produce a notable change in U.S. console activity, according to market data from Circana.
What the PS5 Blackout asked players to do
The protest, referred to as the “PS5 Blackout,” called on owners to power down their PS5 systems between August 23 and August 30 to create a visible drop in platform activity. Organizers later encouraged interested participants to keep consoles off for an indefinite period.
The campaign was a response to Sony’s move to discontinue manufacturing physical PlayStation discs.
U.S. player counts and engagement remained steady
Circana analyst Mat Piscatella said the company’s monitored data did not record “any significant change” in the number of players or in engagement levels during the blackout week in the United States.
That lack of a measurable effect in U.S. metrics highlights how social-media visibility does not always translate into broad user action across a platform’s entire install base.
Scope and limitations of the data
Circana’s figures cover only the North American market, so they cannot determine whether the protest produced measurable effects in other countries.
The PS5 has sold about 93 million units, per the most recent Sony figures cited in the original report, meaning a substantial portion of the install base would have needed to participate to produce a detectable change in overall activity.
What the results suggest
Although the blackout drew attention within gaming communities and on social networks, the U.S. data indicate it did not meaningfully alter typical player behavior during the targeted week.
